Hispanic Studies (BA) (Full-Time, 2021 Entry)
This course is closed
for Clearing 2023
This course is closed for Clearing 2022
If you would like to study at Warwick, there are other courses available for 2024 entry.
UCAS Code
R400
Qualification
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Duration
4 years full-time, normally including a year abroad
Start Date
27 September 2021
Department of Study
School of Modern Languages
Location of Study
University of Warwick
Hispanic Studies at Warwick provides the opportunity to explore the extraordinary breadth and depth of Spanish language and Hispanic cultures in collaboration with recognised experts in the field.
Course overview
Spanish is a world language with around 400 million speakers and is today one of the most important languages for commerce and cultural exchange. This degree offers an innovative approach, combining the study of the Spanish language with the study of the diverse range of Hispanic cultures across Europe, the Caribbean, the Americas, and even aspects of Hispanic history in Africa and the Pacific. You will work closely with leading researchers whose specialisms range from contemporary Spain to Latin America, via Galicia, the Caribbean, the Atlantic and even the UK. You will have access to outstanding facilities and resources, including flexible collaborative and individual learning spaces, as well as a vast selection of print, digital and multimedia learning materials. You’ll normally spend your second or third year abroad, consolidating and enhancing your learning.
Course structure
In your first year, you will follow a core Spanish language programme at either beginner or advanced level. You'll also take Language, Text and Identity in the Hispanic World and Images and Representations of the Hispanic World.
In your intermediate and final years, you will continue to take core Spanish language modules and have a choice of a selection of other modules. Our modules reflect the research specialism of academics in the Hispanic Studies department and cover a broad range of subjects in culture, society, literature, politics, philosophy, film and history.
How will I learn?
We employ a variety of teaching styles, including: lectures; seminars, in which the emphasis is on student participation; and written and spoken language classes in small groups. You will spend the rest of your time studying independently, preparing for classes, reading and analysing materials set for study, writing essays and working on your language skills.
Contact hours
You will have around 12 hours of contact time per week.
Class size
Seminars generally involve around 15 students.
How will I be assessed?
We will track your progress through a variety of methods, including language assignments, essays, presentations, portfolio submissions and examinations (written and oral). Throughout your course you will receive detailed, personalised feedback to help you to improve your skills.
The final degree classification is determined by your intermediate- and final-year marks; each of these years contributes 50%.
Your year abroad
We strongly recommend that students take a year abroad, if they are able to. Students may move to a three-year degree if circumstances do not permit them to complete a year abroad. In such cases, there will be further language reinforcement work and students will be encouraged to spend time abroad in other ways, during vacation times.
You will usually spend your year abroad doing one of three things:
- Working as a language assistant teaching English in a primary or secondary school
- Studying full-time at a partner university in your chosen country
- On a work placement
The year abroad options are flexible so we recommend you check the department's subject pages for more details.
General entry requirements
A level:
- ABB to include a modern or classical language
IB:
- 34 to include 5 at Higher Level in a modern or classical language
BTEC:
- We welcome applications from students taking BTECs alongside an A level in a modern or classical language
Additional requirements:
You will also need to meet our English Language requirements.
International Students
We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications.
Find out more about international entry requirements.
Contextual data and differential offers
Warwick may make differential offers to students in a number of circumstances. These include students participating in the Realising Opportunities programme, or who meet two of the contextual data criteria. Differential offers will be one or two grades below Warwick’s standard offer (to a minimum of BBB).
Warwick International Foundation Programme (IFP)
All students who successfully complete the Warwick IFP and apply to Warwick through UCAS will receive a guaranteed conditional offer for a related undergraduate programme (selected courses only).
Find out more about standard offers and conditions for the IFP.
Taking a gap year
Applications for deferred entry welcomed.
Interviews
We do not typically interview applicants. Offers are made based on your UCAS form which includes predicted and actual grades, your personal statement and school reference.
Year One
Modern Spanish Language 1
Do you have A level or an equivalent in Spanish and want to consolidate, extend and refine your skills to advanced level? This module will equip you with sound grammatical and linguistic foundations, with the aim of increasing your confidence in reading, listening, speaking and writing in Spanish. You'll use authentic resources in a variety of media from around the Hispanic world, including books, articles, newspapers, television and radio, as well as taking part in our virtual language exchange with students in Colombia, and culminating in production of a language portfolio to demonstrate your competence in the spoken and written language.
OR
Modern Spanish Language for Beginners
As a beginner in the acquisition of the Spanish language, you’ll gain a keen grammatical awareness, a sound understanding of cultures and societies across the Hispanic world, and most of all, confidence in reading, listening, speaking and writing in Spanish. Using authentic resources, including newspapers, television and radio, you are expected to end your course able to sustain everyday conversations in Spanish, read authentic texts, follow the gist of TV extracts and write at an intermediate level in Spanish. You'll also work on basic translations to and from Spanish as a means of consolidating your knowledge.
Optional core modules (select two or three of the following):
Language, Text and Identity in the Hispanic World
How has the Spanish language travelled around the world and what happens when it co-exists with other languages? How do writers use language to explore identity, and what happens when they work between two (or more) languages? What skills do we need as readers to interpret the nuances of texts that travel between languages? This module will equip you with an understanding of the cultural and sociolinguistic diversity of the Hispanic world, and a strong grounding in the literary and cultural analysis of texts that address this diversity. The module explores the different varieties of Spanish spoken around the world, along with some of the principal languages that share its territory. It also reads a variety of texts that negotiate national and gender identities across linguistic and cultural borders, with a focus on those that travel between non-hegemonic Hispanic contexts and the Anglosphere.
Images and Representations of the Hispanic World
Where did the familiar stereotypes of Spain and Latin America come from? How have they circulated and been received at different times and in different places? And how have Spaniards and Latin Americans represented themselves to travellers, tourists, artists, and even invaders? Through the study of representations of the Hispanic world, you'll investigate significant topics including (de)colonisation of the Americas, stereotypical views of the Hispanic world and the imagining of Spanish identity through art and film in the 20th century. You'll be expected to read widely and independently, and to gain the analytical skills needed to conduct close textual and film analysis.
Icons of the Hispanic World
You’ll be introduced to major cultural landmarks from across the temporal, geographical and disciplinary range covered within Hispanic studies. You’ll engage with iconic figures at the heart of the Hispanic cultural imagination, and with canonical authors whose work has been influential in a Hispanic context and beyond. You'll acquire the skills required to conduct close analysis and critique of primary sources, both written and visual, in a variety of genres, and in so doing, foster your linguistic competence and increase your awareness of the range and diversity of Hispanic culture. There will be opportunities to improve your research techniques and to present clear and cogent arguments based on your analysis of primary sources.
*If you choose to study two of the modules listed above you’ll also take an approved option from the Language Centre or an outside option in another academic department
Intermediate Year^
Modern Spanish Language 2
On this module, you'll extend your competence in Spanish. You'll deepen your understanding of advanced grammatical and linguistic structures, increase the range and sophistication of your vocabulary, and refine your use of register in authentic spoken and written discourse. You'll use resources from a variety of media from around the Hispanic world, and take part in our virtual language exchange with students in Latin America and Spain. At the end of the course, you should have sufficient mastery to discuss different topics, report on your independent reading and support your opinions with solid arguments.
OR
Modern Spanish Language 2 (Post-beginners)
Final Year
Modern Spanish Language 3
On this module, you'll consolidate your fluency in spoken and written Spanish, and refine your translation skills to advanced level. You'll practise oral and discursive expression using a range of advanced linguistic structures, vocabulary and registers. You'll be engaged in independent study, for example in researching and preparing work for presentation in class in order to develop your communicative and intercultural competence and the capacity to structure your own learning.
Examples of optional modules/options for current students:
- Spain and the Philippines at Empire’s End
- Cultural Connections, Digital Histories: Britain and the 19th-Century Hispanic World
- Latin American Counterpoints: Nature and Modernity in Latin America
- Illusion and Reality, Doubt and Deceit: The Baroque Obsession with Uncertainty
- Postmodernism and Popular Culture in Latin America
- Love, Death, and Desire in the Golden Age
- Journeys and Cityscapes in Latin American Film
- Screening Spain: Spanish Film in Context.
^Year Two or Three depending on when the year abroad is taken
Tuition fees
Find out more about fees and funding.
Additional course costs
There may be costs associated with other items or services such as academic texts, course notes, and trips associated with your course. Students who choose to complete a work placement or study abroad will pay reduced tuition fees for their third year.
Warwick Undergraduate Global Excellence Scholarship 2021
We believe there should be no barrier to talent. That's why we are committed to offering a scholarship that makes it easier for gifted, ambitious international learners to pursue their academic interests at one of the UK's most prestigious universities. This new scheme will offer international fee-paying students 250 tuition fee discounts ranging from full fees to awards of £13,000 to £2,000 for the full duration of your Undergraduate degree course.
Find out more about the Warwick Undergraduate Global Excellence Scholarship 2021
Your career
This degree course was only recently introduced, so our first cohort of students have not yet graduated.
However, graduates from other Modern Language courses like this one have gone on to work for employers including:
- Amazon
- British Airways
- Civil Service
- Grayce Consulting
- HM Revenue and Customs
- HSBC
- Ipsos Mori
- Lidl
- NBC Universal
- Save the Children International
- The Department for International Trade
They have pursued careers such as:
- Business and financial project management professionals
- Chartered and certified accountants
- Financial accounts managers
- Human resources and industrial relations officers
- Management consultants and business analysts
- Public services associate professionals
- Teachers and other educational professionals
Helping you find the right career
Our department has a dedicated professionally qualified Senior Careers Consultant to support you. They offer impartial advice and guidance, together with workshops and events throughout the year. Previous examples of workshops and events include:
- What are you doing after Warwick? Career planning for final year language students
- Careers in the Public Sector
- Warwick careers fairs throughout the year
- Completing effective CVs and Application Forms for students from the School of Modern Languages
- Reflecting on Your Year Abroad
- Languages Alumni Evening
"Warm and welcoming"
"I chose Hispanic Studies and German at Warwick because of the feeling I got on open day when I walked around the university, and more specifically talking to current students and staff.
Warwick is a beautiful place and the School of Modern Languages and Cultures has a really warm welcoming feel to it.
The modules were all so interesting and students and staff both seemed to really enjoy them and were happy to chat a lot about what interested me."
Annie
BA Hispanic Studies and German
"We look at the Hispanic world as a whole, we don't just focus on Spain, and that really is reflected in the way that we're taught. So in our speaking classes, we don't have to just speak the variety of Spanish from Spain - we can also speak Columbian Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Chilean Spanish, and equally in our cultural modules, we're taught history or literature from Spain and Latin America and the Phillipines ... so it's a lot broader in that sense."
Laura
Hispanic Studies and French BA
About the information on this page
This information is applicable for 2021 entry. Given the interval between the publication of courses and enrolment, some of the information may change. It is important to check our website before you apply. Please read our terms and conditions to find out more.